


Truth Between The Lies

by trancer



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Dark Character, F/F, Gaslighting, Lesbian Relationship, Married Couple
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-07
Updated: 2014-12-07
Packaged: 2018-02-28 13:06:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,744
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2733677
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/trancer/pseuds/trancer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sequel to <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/works/2723153">"The Protection"</a> Emma and Henry are no longer just Regina's family that Ruby's protecting, they're Ruby's family. But, Ruby has plans of her own, plans that require keeping Emma and Henry safe. And Ruby will do anything to keep Emma and Henry safe. Anything.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Truth Between The Lies

"You know," Henry sighed, impish grin curling the corners of his lips. "It kinda hurts my feelings that you don't trust me with the baby."

It'd been three weeks since Ruby had come home with little Lawrence Talbot. It's not that Emma didn't trust Ruby. She married her, after all. But, something about Ruby's story didn't completely click for Emma. Who may or may not have researched into little Lawrence's background. Only to discover Ruby did have an ex, an immigrant from Australia, a tangled history with an abusive husband that, ultimately, ended in tragedy. Emma wasn't one for sob stories, but she did have a soft spot for kids. It was either send Lawrence into the system for the chance to be adopted or give him to his asshole of a biological father. Neither of which were an option. She'd seen it in Ruby's eyes when she showed up with the child in her arms.

Raised by the system, all too aware of its dangers and pitfalls, Emma didn't have it in her to do the same to another child, let alone return him to an abusive parent. She loved Ruby. She trusted Ruby (mostly). Now, come hell or high water, they had a second child. Which, Emma had to admit, she quickly adored, already falling in love with him. Like a missing puzzle piece, Lawrence immediately fit.

"What are you talking about?" Lawrence asleep in her arms, Emma gently ran her hand up and down his back as they waited for the elevator. "I trust you with the baby."

"Really?" Henry practically snorted. "Then, why can't I call him 'Lo'?"

"Please," Emma huffed, rolling her eyes. "Lo's the name you give the poor bastard who has to open for Justin Bieber. We took a vote. The majority ruled his nickname should be Lance."

Not satisfied, Henry grumbled, "Then why does Ruby get to call him Wolfenstein?"

The moment Emma thought about answering with 'because the sex is incredible', the elevator doors opened. And Emma remembered she's an adult with a child, two children, actually. "It's the magical thing that happens when you exchange rings with someone you love. One day, you'll understand."

"Right," he snorted. "I understand you're whipped."

"You have seen your step-mother, right?"

"That's.." Henry shook his head, nose wrinkling, "really gross, Mom." He'd known Ruby since he was five. Her presence in his life had transitioned in time from babysitter, to occasional big sister to permanent step mother, Ruby making out with his mother some weird price that had to be paid for her continued presence. The world's slowest elevator, Henry slumped his back to the wall, head tilting, he gazed at his soon-to-be-legal little brother. "You know, he kinda looks like you."

Little Lance's head was on her shoulder and facing outwards. Emma turned, so she could gaze at his reflection in the mirrored surface of the elevator doors. "What are you talking about?"

Head tilting, Henry narrowed his eyes to examine the little face. "His eyes, they're like yours. His nose. He even laughs like you do." he reached out, gently placing his finger under Lance's palm and gently shaking. "My ears, though. Which is why he's cool."

Barely three, Lance's hair was starting to grow out. Emma ran a hand over his head, the sprouting waves of dusty, blonde hair. She couldn't say she hadn't noticed the similiarities, a resemblance that couldn't be brushed off with how all babies looked alike. Emma loved Ruby, particularly some of her mysterious qualities. But, this was something they were definitely going to have to sit down and talk about.

"He's a baby," she finally said, the elevator stopping as the doors opened. "All babies look alike."

"Yeah, like you!"

Their apartment was at the end of the floor. Where, even from the elevator, they could hear the phone ringing.

"What the hell?" Emma muttered. "It's ten-thirty at night.."

"I'll get it!" Henry was already bounding off, like he was still ten instead of eighteen and about to head off for college.

Key sliding into the lock, he pushed the door open, grabbing the phone off the receiver. "Hello?" The line was quiet for a beat, another. "Hello?" he asked a little more suspiciously.

"I.. I'm sorry," the voice, a woman's voice, said, suddenly shaky, nervous. "I'm looking for Red.. I mean Ruby. Ruby Lucas."

"Yeah, she's still downstairs parking the car." He tossed the keys on the table in the hall, one-arm shirking out of his coat. "Can I tell her who's calling?"

"You sound so big, now."

"I'm sorry.." Henry paused, freezing halfway through taking off his coat. "Do I know you?"

A pause. "No." Another pause. "But, the way she talks about you, I'm sorry, I feel like I know you."

"Ruby?" He scrunched his brows. As animated as Ruby could be, he couldn't imagine her talking about him to a stanger. "Talks about me?"

"She's proud of you. So, so proud," the voice quietly sighed. "And loves you, with all of her heart."

"Henry?" Emma called to him, entering the front door then using her foot to close it behind her. "Who's on the phone?"

Henry placed the phone to his chest. "I don't know. Some woman calling for Ruby. She's kinda weird."

Emma approached, bending slightly at the knees. "Here, take Lance.."

"Lo."

"Shut up and take the baby!" she chuckled, Henry scrunching his face, arms extending as they began their exchange, a baby for a phone. Emma waited a couple seconds, watching her son holding her soon-to-be other son. She lifted the phone, placing it to her ear. "Hello?"

Silence.

Henry began gently bouncing, cooing softly like he remembered his Mom doing all those years ago. In the corner of his eye, something moved. A shadow, except there wasn't anything attached to it, just a blurry, blackish circle moving down the wall, onto the floor.

The hairs on the back of his head stood on end. "Mom?"

"Hello?" Emma, oblivious, talked into the phone.

Henry took a cautious step back, moving closer to his mother, watching the shadow ooze across the floor. "Mom?"

"Who's there?" Emma barked into the phone. This was weird.

"MOM!"

She whipped her head at the panicked rise in Henry's voice. Her eyes widening at the spot on the floor, the spot she could see moving.

"EMMA!" The voice on the phone finally spoke, yelled. Emma's eyes still glued to the shadow on the floor. It stopped right before the door, darkening, something moving within its blackness. A shape formed, circular, like something within the darkness rising. A circle with sides that rose, extending inch by inch, and Emma realized it was a hat. A hat that soon became attached to a face, a face that rose from the darkness, grayish white and crinkled like time itself, pits of coals for eyes. Horns, it had horns, thick as a fist, curving towards the back of its head and curling back around. The mouth was nothing but a slash across its face. Then, the thing smiled, exposing rows upon rows of sharp, pointy spikes.

"RUN EMMA!!" the voice in her ear screamed. "TAKE HENRY AND RUN!!"

Emma jolted, the one word able to jar her from her stupor. "Henry!" She reached out, grabbing him by the back of his jacket and pulling him closer to her. "Get behind me."

"Mom?" his voice shaky, he pulled Lance a little tighter to him. The thing hunched, flexed its fingers, nails like daggers.

"The fire escape," she forcefully whispered, Henry nodding from the corner of her eye.

The thing, creature, whatever, rose, clothes completely black, styled from back in another century. Emma had been living in New York for almost a decade, she'd seen a lot of weird shit. But, nothing about this said it was a costume, or an elaborate con, some fancy special effects. The shiver down her spine hadn't stopped reverberating, the hairs on the back of her neck still stood straight as soldiers. Raising a hand, it pointed a long, thin finger. "Emmmmaaaa," it hissed, then pointed again, "Hennnrrrry."

"Shit," she muttered. "Listen, buddy, I don't know who you think.."

It roared, lower jaw practically coming unhinged. The sound deafening, it shook the walls, rattled the windows. Lance shocked awake, he immediately started crying. Then, the thing lunged.

Phone dropping from her grip, ears still ringing, the entire world muffled. Emma turned, hand to Henry's shoulder. "GO! NOW!"

She jerked open the drawer as she ran, grabbing her gun. Henry was already at the window, Lance in his arms and wailing, as Henry crawled out onto the fire escape. Emma a half second behind, hands the windowsill.

"Emmmaaaaa.."

She felt the hand gripping her jacket, Emma spun. Raised her gun and fired, quickly, almost blindly. A muffled pop. Like the entire room had been sound proofed, not Emma's ears but the very air around her. Round after round after round, it stumbled backwards with each bullet hitting a bullseye dead in its chest. Until it dropped to its knees, and Emma stopped firing.

Then, it lifted its head, lips stretching into a dry, wide smile.

"Mom!" Henry shrieked from outside.

And Emma was out the window and on the fire escape.

"There's another one" Henry yelled, voice dull and dim like he was speaking underwater.

"What?" Emma followed his pointed finger. There, climbing up the fire escape, was another one, dressed in black with ghost white skin, a demon-like smile with razors for teeth. "Shit!" Emma turned, pushing Henry in the other direction. "The roof!"

A dead-end, she knew. But, maybe someone had left the door to the stairs open. Maybe someone had called the cops. Maybe.

Lance crying, Henry ran towards the door to the stairs, yanking on the handle. "It's locked!"

"Figures!" Emma checked her clip, slamming it back into the handle. She was low. "Henry, do you have your cell?" He slipped his hand into his pocket, nodding. "Call Ruby!"

The first climbed to the top of the fire escape, all top hat and evil. Both hands gripping her gun, Emma raised and pointed.

"Back off!" she snarled, backing to stand in front of her sons.

"Emmmmaaa, Hennnrrryy," the eerie hissing became a chorus as the second rose up. "Emmmaaa, Hennnrrryyy."

"What the FUCK do you want?"

"MOM!!"

She never saw it. Never saw the third one creeping over the roof. Never saw the hand sailing through the air and backhanding her across the face. She sailed backwards, ass over tea kettle, back slamming against the wall before she slumped to the ground. Her gun skittered out of her hands, out of her reach. Henry quickly at her side, kneeling, Lance wailing.

They stood shoulder to shoulder, knives for nails and daggers for teeth, smiling and stalking closer. Their raspy, eerie chorus filling the night air, a death chant.

"Please," Emma croaked, tasting the blood in her mouth, the pounding in her head, the bruised bones. Emma all out of options. "Not my boys."

A crunch, hard and splintering like wood. The thing in the middle looked down, the other two joining, staring at the fist sticking through the middle of its chest. The fist was quickly yanked back out, the thing looking stunned and dazed. A shadow, quick like lightning, leapt over its head, hands whipping out, gripping it by the shoulders. As the shadow landed, it flipped the creature up and over, landing hard on its back, neck snapping.

Ruby Lucas looked up.

Except, it wasn't Ruby, not really. A pronounced forehead and thicker, longer nose, pointed ears. Teeth visible through her parted lips, canines extended to long sharp points. But, it was the eyes that were the most shocking, that made Emma gasp, the blood to drain from her face.

Ruby looked up and her eyes were yellow, glowing even in the dim light around them. She looked up and stared straight at Emma.

"Dammit, Emma!" she growled. "RUN!"

Emma up and on her feet, she and Henry rushing towards the door to the stairs as a battle began to rage behind them. Hand jerking into her pocket, she fished out her keys, shoving the right one into the lock.

The door to the roof slammed behind them as they ran down the stairs.

Emma never looked back.

**

A safehouse. Emma was a bail bondsperson, catching criminals was her trade. She'd never actually needed a safehouse. But, she'd made friends, contacts in which having a safehouse nearby was a necessity. One phonecall later and she and her boys were someplace safe. A one room loft with a kitchen, table and a couch, where Henry slept, Lance curled up in his arms.

Emma sat at the table, drinking from the bottle of whiskey she'd found in a cabinet.

A knock at the door, instinctually, Emma reached for her gun.

"It's me, Emma," Ruby spoke softly from the other side. "Can I come in?"

She rose, Henry wide awake and staring. One hand tightening on the grip of her gun, she placed the other on the doorknob. "Are you, like, normal?"

"Yes, Emma. I'm normal, now."

Emma opened the door.

Ruby looked normal, sheepishly gazing upwards from her bowed head. There were bloody slashes on her shirt, the skin underneath completely clean. A messengers bag slung over her shoulder. But, the weirdness from last night was gone, just the woman Emma remembered. The one she'd married. "Can I come in?"

Emma stepped to the side, jaw clenching. Henry had lifted to a seated position, Lance still asleep on the couch.

"Ruby," Emma growled, voice low. "What the fuck was that? Who.. what were those things? And you?" She shook her head, like she could still feel the ringing in her ears, ran a hand over her face. "What the fuck, Ruby!"

Ruby meandered to the table. Opening the bag, she pulled out an oversized book, 'Once Upon A Time', and set it on the table before slumping down in a seat. She grabbed the bottle of whiskey, taking a long pull.

Henry stood up, stopping at Emma's warning finger raised in the air. "You're a werewolf, aren't you?"

Half-grin pulling at her lips, Ruby chuckled. "You always were a smart kid." She took another long swig, setting the bottle on the table as she rose to stand. "And you weren't supposed to ever know."

"Ruby," Emma warned. The last thing in the world she wanted to do was shoot her wife. It didn't mean she wouldn't. Her eyes made a darting glance towards the child sleeping on the couch. "The boy? Who's child is it?"

"Please stop asking questions." Ruby closed her eyes, took a long slow inhale, craning her head back. Three dead supernatural creatures. A cleanup that took hours. She still had a shit ton of paperwork to do. If there was anything worse than working for the Home Office, it was the paperwork. Eyes opening, she fixed her gaze to Emma. She reached into her pocket, pulling out a slip of paper. "If you want to forget. Which, trust me, you really, really should," she set the paper down on the table, "go here. If you want to remember? Which you really, really don't," she reached into her pocket again, pulling out another slip of paper and setting it on the table, "go here."

She ran a hand over her head, scratching her scalp before placing it back in her pocket and turning back towards the door. Stopping in the doorway, the slightest of head turns, features obscured by her long, dark hair. "I love you, Emma Swan. If I've ever lied to you, it's because I was protecting you. I will always protect you."

With that, Ruby Lucas was gone.

**

Sunrise. Ruby took a long sip from her beer, the fight still thrumming in her veins, standing in her bra, jeans and barefeet. Emma had her safehouses to run to, Ruby hers, a luxury apartment on the upper East Side, one that overlooked Central Park. A tax shelter for a shady real estate agent, comfortably hiding from the law in Shanghai, a man running from the law, a trickster running from the Home Office. A gift from him to Ruby for saving his life. Ruby had received lots of 'gifts' since infiltrating the organization.

She heard the front door open, neck craning backwards as her eyes slid closed, listening to the familiar footfalls of boots on hardwood floor. "Goddamnit, Emma," she grit through clenched teeth.

Emma approached, standing shoulder to shoulder with Ruby at the window. "Jesus Christ," she half-chuckled, stunned by the view, "we really need to discuss your extracurricular activities." Emma reached, taking the beer from Ruby's hand, downing the remainder. "Booze for breakfast, my favorite."

Ruby slumped forward, pressed her forehead to the glass. "I love you, Emma."

"I know."

They fell into an awkwardly comfortable silence. The memories given to Ruby feeling like a curse, not an intrusion, but a presence that was almost always there. If the intention wasn't for Ruby to fall in love with Emma, Regina should have come up with a different backstory.

"The baby," Emma finally spoke, "who is he, really?"

Ruby pushed herself from the glass, dared her eyes to meet Emma's. "He's your brother."

"Seriously?" Emma didn't have it in her to disbelieve. The moment she held him in her arms, it had been like when she held Henry for the first time. But, the child wasn't that old, which meant.. "Are they really alive? My parents?"

"Snow is," Ruby shuddered, thinking back to the last time she'd seen Snow White, all disheveled and desperate, a hint of madness in her eyes. "I'm not sure about Charming."

"Fuck, Ruby," Emma sighed, tossing a hand in the air and letting it slap against her thigh. A hard pill to swallow, really hard, but Emma had seen too much now. Knew too much. Emma hated secrets, especially the ones pertaining to her. "What made you think I'd want to forget?"

"Why would you want to remember?" Ruby turned, arms folding across her chest. "You read the book, right? The truth is, eighteen years ago, you chose. You chose to put Henry up for adoption. Is that what you want to remember? Those ten years you lived without him? I know you enough to know this - those memories? They will destroy you."

Emma swallowed hard, brows furrowing as another memory hit her. "This has happened before, hasn't it?" She shook a finger. "That creepy guy. The one dressed like a pirate. He said I had to remember. He was right, wasn't he?"

Ruby sneered, wishing for all the world that Hook was still alive. Just for the express purpose of slitting his throat once again. "No, he wasn't."

"Ruby?" The anger began to build, bubbling in Emma's eyes. "What are you hiding?"

"For fuck's sake, Emma!"

"Last night? How many times has that happened? And you expect me to just forget, to go back to how it was?"

"I can protect you!" Ruby choked, the threads unraveling. Her worst nightmare coming true right before her eyes. They've had fights before, knockdown dragout affairs. Nothing like this, where everything was on the line. "I've always protected you!" Ruby paused, collecting herself, gazing with eyes brimming with tears. "Emma, please. Please don't do this."

Ruby's panic, her fear was palpable. Emma too damned stubborn to ever back down. Awful as the memories could be, she had to know. She had to know. No matter the price. "You lied to me, Ruby." Emma stabbed the dagger deep. "You've always been lying to me. Me and my son."

They were always careening to this point, Ruby knew. Careening to a point where Emma discovered the truth, then hated Ruby and her role in the deception. Because, to Emma Swan, this was a deception as opposed to a necessity. A time when Ruby would no longer be Emma and Henry's protector, no longer at Emma's side. Hands lifting, Ruby slid the gold band off her ring finger, handing it to Emma. "Here?"

Emma swallowed, fighting the urge to step back, step away from what she knew was coming next. "What's this?"

"I'm doing as you've asked, giving you back your memories." Lifting Emma's wrist, Ruby placed the ring in her palm. It'd been Emma who proposed. The happiest day of Ruby's life. "I know you, Emma. Once you get your memories back, you're not going to trust me. I don't even know if you'll still love me.."

"Ruby.." Emma sighed.

Hands clasping to her cheeks, Ruby crashed their lips together. Like that first one, hard and desperate and bruising. Emma moaning at the tongue brushing against her lips, shuddering as she acquiesced. At the way Ruby's body molded to hers, heart thundering against her chest. Emma couldn't deny how much she wanted to. To slip out of their clothes, press skin against skin, touch and lick and taste. One last time because this was goodbye.

It was Ruby that broke their lips apart, pressing their foreheads together. "I don't care how much you hate me. I will always protect you. I will always love you."

Emma could only watch, the increasing distance between them like a frigid blast of air, as Ruby walked away.

The safe tucked discreetly in a bookshelf, Ruby pulled out the antique vial, amber liquid glowing dully. Placed in the palm of her hand, she extended her arm. "Please don't do this," she whispered.

Emma could only smile weakly. Pulling the cork, she dared to take a whiff. It smelled like sulphur and vanilla. She had to know. "Down the hatch."

A wave of magic and Emma swayed on her feet. She swallowed hard, like she could feel the foundation shifting, the pieces moving and rearranging then settling back into place. With eyes glazed, a bit confused, she looked up. "Ruby?" She swayed, eyes rolling into the back of her head. "Where are we.."

Ruby rushed to catch Emma as she fell. Emma cradled in her arms, head slumping against her shoulder, Ruby rose to her feet. "I told you," she whispered, eyes yellow. "I will always protect you."

**

A little after nine when Ruby slipped Emma's key into the safehouse door. The floor littered with toys, Lance dead asleep on a blanket.

"Ruby?" Henry said, standing at the kitchen counter where he'd been munching on another slice of pizza. "Where's Mom?"

"Back at the apartment," Ruby closed the door, tossed the keys onto the table. "Getting some things before we head to Storybrooke."

Henry set down his slice back in the box. Lips pressing as he narrowed his eyes. "You made her forget, didn't you? You're here to make me forget."

Ruby chuckled, sitting down at the table. "You've always been too damn smart for your own good."

Henry joined her, taking a seat on the opposite end of the tiny circle. "It's okay," he forced a smile. "I understand."

"Thanks, kid." His hands were on the book, Ruby reaching out to clasp around his knuckles.

"Do I have to forget that you're a werewolf?" The smile on his face was genuine. "Cuz that's kinda cool."

Ruby couldn't help but smile back. "It is and, yes, you do."

He nodded, a bit of the smile fading. Opening the book, he turned to a page, an illustration of the Evil Queen. "Is she really my mother?" He paused off Ruby's nod. "What's she like?"

"I can tell you that book barely scratches the surface. Regina's.." she inhaled, running a hand over her head. So much to say, so little time. "Complex, to an astounding degree. Beneath the rage, the anger and hate, even a bit of madness, there was always that part of Regina that wanted nothing more than to love and be loved. Which is the part where you come in. She changed, really and truly changed."

"She sacrificed her happiness for me." He looked down at the illustration, had struggled all day imagining this woman as his mother, scraping his brain to try and find the memories. "Why are you here instead of her?"

"She had no idea it would work. I was willing to take that chance." A sympathetic sigh, it'd been a veritable suicide mission, choosing to try and escape Pan's curse, not knowing if Regina's little wrinkle would work. All these years later, Ruby couldn't imagine anything different. A world in which Emma was now her wife, Henry their son, *her* son. Not a tale from a storybook, but still a happy ending.

"Can I talk to her?" Henry lifted his head. "Before I forget, can I talk to my Mom?"

Despite the curse, despite a lifetime of memories in which he grew up without her, there were still pieces of Regina in him. The Heart of the Truest Believer so eager and willing to believe the pages in a storybook were true, that he had another mother out there. One that loved him with everything she was. What could it hurt to let a boy speak to his mother?

Ruby fished into her pocket and pulled out her cell. "Regina, it's me. He wants to talk to you." She extended her hand, giving a coy wink as she whispered, "Wanna make her really proud? Show off your Spanish."

**

She sat on the fire escape, just outside the opened window. Finishing off the twelve-pack of cheap beer Emma had stowed in the fridge for emergencies. Listening but not listening to Henry as he talked to Regina on the phone. The way Regina's voice swelled, the cautious but pointed questions. The smile in Henry's voice, how quickly and easily he relaxed, accepting that, yes, this was his mother.

An hour later, he crawled out onto the escape with Ruby, handing back the phone. "She had to go. Something about a dwarf disaster. She told me to tell you 'thanks'." He scooted forward, legs wiggling through the bars so he could dangle his feet over the edge. He inhaled, sighing. "I don't want to forget."

"I know. I'm sorry, kid."

He turned, impish grin pulling his lips. "Can I have a beer?"

"What!?!"

"Figured if I'm gonna forget, can I at least have a little fun first?"

"First off, you might not remember but I will. And with your Mom's superpower, the moment she asks if I ever gave you liquor my ass is toast."

"Okay," he laughed, face turning somber as he pressed his forehead to a bar. "It's just.. I know I don't know everything, I just want to remember for a little longer." He inhaled, twisting his lips. "Will I ever get to remember?"

"Yes," Ruby answered, watching Henry straighten, snapping his head back to her. "Let's just say I might have accidentally stumbled on a prophecy. A couple years from now, we're all gonna have to go back to the Enchanted Forest."

"Seriously?"

"Yep. The Evil Queen, the Savior, and the Heart of the Truest Believer, together again."

"What about you?"

Ruby narrowed her eyes, anything to keep the darkness from showing. Henry didn't have his mother's superpower but he was a smart kid, intelligent and streetwise. Ruby with her own plans, her own ambitions and desires. "Don't worry, I'll be there," she answered, hiding her face behind the beer drawn to her lips. "Right by your side."

If Henry saw through her, it didn't show. He merely nodded, returning his gaze to the skyline. "Can you tell me about it? Life in the Enchanted Forest, before I forget?"

Two sets of memories, one fake, one real. A little boy, Ruby always at his side in one way or another, as she slowly grew into a man. A boy who became her son. Like Emma, like Regina, hard as Ruby tried, she couldn't deny him anything.

"Sure kid."

**

The alarm clock, shrill and loud and beeping, an angry electronic god that demanded tribute. Emma groaned, reaching over and slapping it off. There would be no tribute this morning. She shifted onto her back, enough strength left to crack open an eye. Ruby on her side, head propped up with a hand, gazing down.

"What?" Emma grumbled.

"Nothing," Ruby shrugged, grin widening. The forget potion had worked. Memories of mysterious murderous creatures, storybooks and deceptions replaced with returning home from dinner to watch movies on the couch, two sleeping boys in their bed, two mom's cuddling with each other in theirs. "Just lying here debating whether to let the alarm clock wake you up or try a little seduction."

"And you chose the alarm clock?" Emma pulled the cover up to her chin, huffily rolling onto her side away from Ruby. "I want a divorce."

Closing the distance, spooning Emma from behind, Ruby nuzzled against Emma's neck, hand sliding over her stomach to playfully cup a breast. "Before or after I make you come?"

"Who said we were going to stop having sex after the divorce?" Emma huffed playfully. "It's one of the conditions. My weekly quota of orgasms."

"Mmm," Ruby purred, the hand on Emma's breast sliding down and into her boxers. "You know how much I love filling quotas."

"Quotas and making me come. It's one of the things I love about you."

"Say it again." Ruby shifted, rolling the two until Emma was on her back, Ruby hovering, staring intently. "Say you love me."

Emma narrowed her eyes. "Why do you do that? Doubt how much I love you?"

The child now named Lance 'Wolfenstein' Swan-Lucas came to Ruby's rescue. As he jumped up and down in his crib, yanking on the railing, all while he yelled Ruby's name. "Ooobee, Ooobee."

Ruby chuckled at Emma's dawning frustration. There'd be no hanky-panky this particular morning. Ruby planted a quick peck to Emma's nose. "I'll get the baby. You get ready for work." She rolled off, rising to her feet. "And no jerking off in the shower."

"That's just mean!" Emma called after her. "I mentioned I'm willing to divorce you, right?"

**

"Dance with me," Emma said, with warm and inviting eyes, wiggling her fingers as she extended her hand.

Their new normal, Ruby at home with Lance because they were still trying to find a good daycare. And the only thing more competitive in New York than finding real estate was finding good daycare. Henry had been in and out all day, coming home in time for dinner before leaving again to hang with his friends. Bath time for Lance, putting him to bed, cuddling with Emma on the couch as they watched a movie. Emma the one to fall asleep.

Ruby made her way up to the roof, elbows on the ledge, wind tangling her hair as she gazed blankly at the skyline. The smile that curled her lips as she heard the door open, familiar footsteps approaching.

She extended her hand, Emma's fingers clasping around, Ruby allowing herself to be reeled in. Hands clasping together, Ruby drew a hand up Emma's shoulder, as Emma wrapped around her back, forehead gently pressed to Ruby's temple. A silent beat, a docile rhythm, the two swayed in time with each other. The rest of the world quietly dissolving into nothingness.

Emma brought her lips to the shell of Ruby's ear, gently whispered, "You never answered my question?" She waited until Ruby lifted her head from her shoulder, their eyes meeting. "Why you still doubt how much I love you?"

"Emma.." Ruby sighed, eyes darting to break the contact.

"Do you know when I first fell in love with you? That day at the bus station," Emma tightened her arm, pulling Ruby closer. "You fresh off the bus from fucking Iowa. Then, you decked the fuck out of that clown that pinched your ass."

"Stop it," voice lowering to barely above a whisper, "please."

A lie. One created by a mother desperate to save her child. The unforeseen consequences. The intention had never been there, the seeds planted nonetheless. The first time Ruby had used a forget potion on Emma, but now she knew. Knew how Emma would react. The memories erased, Ruby could still feel that chasm between them.

"Goddammit, Ruby!" She clasped her hands to Ruby's cheeks, forcing the eye contact. "What's going on?"

"I killed my first boyfriend. You didn't know that about me, did you?" She felt Emma tense, felt the stutter of her heart. Ruby did what she always did when Emma got too close to the truth - she lied by wrapping it in words that were partially true. "The second person I ever fell in love with? She left me for a man who manipulated and beat her. When she finally escaped, she was killed by a fucking drunk driver. It's not you I doubt. It's me. You and Henry, the idea that something terrible could happen to either of you.. because of me.."

"Ruby," Emma cooed, planting butterfly kisses to Ruby's cheeks, her eyes. "You're so fucking adorable."

"That's.." She narrowed her eyes. "An incredibly condescending thing to say to a woman pouring her heart out to you."

"Do you want me to propose again? Because I will."

A happy ending, built on a foundation of lies with a set time limit. In a couple years, they would all be returning to the Enchanted Forest. A war was coming. So many plans yet to come to fruition so the cards fell in Ruby's favor. Allying with Regina would be easy, as long as she had her son, everything else fell under the sorting of minor details. Emma was the outlier. And now, Ruby knew how she'd react when her memories finally returned. The wheels spun, Ruby hatching another plan, simple in theory, it's the execution that would be hard. All she had to was make Emma fall in love with her.

Again.

"Seriously," there was a smile to go along with Emma's pleading tone, "tell me what you want me to do?"

"First, tell me you love me. Then," she grinned. Ruby was a wolf. For everything to go as planned, as prophesized, she'd need an Evil Queen, a Savior and the Heart of the Truest Believer at her side. A new plan, and Ruby couldn't think of a better time to start then now. She leaned closer, purring into Emma's parted lips, "Take me to our bed and show me."

END


End file.
